Shards of Old

As soon as I left the town I summoned my orb, this time fire one, just to try and get used to having to pretend being a fire mage. Trip to the end of the road was, as expected, uneventful. Again I tried looking around for any signs of side paths using little light that my orb provided, but that was just something to distract myself from the boring walk. Of course I didn't find any. When I reached the beach the night was completely dark already. As soon as the sand started to take over the road I dismissed my orb, and looked in the distant horizon, to the sea. I was hoping to maybe see a light of a ship or something along those lines in the distance, but still, there was nothing. Even if I would see something, I had no idea what good it would bring me. What, I would start throwing fireballs in the air? Create a glowing beacon on the beach? With those dumb ideas running around my head I started slowly walking along the coast.

First, just following my old footprints. Then, just wandering aimlessly on the barren and flat beach. Yet again, I started wondering what I should do, stuck here. This place wasn't that bad if you thought about it. Calm sea, nice clean beach, not many people to annoy you, almost like paradise island. I could've stayed here and in relative peace and quiet continue, or rather start my research again. The money could've been a slight issue, but I was pretty sure that I could annoy the innkeeper enough for him to give me a way to get what I want. I could spend a few months here, or however long it would take for a decent ship to appear without much issue. Considering everything I knew so far, it wasn't the worst place to be stuck in - there was at least a village here.

Daydreaming this way, I walked about three hours along the silent beach. The night sky was clear and the sea as calm as it gets, with no wind to even speak of. The beach gave no signs of an end, so I started wondering if the whole island is surrounded this way, just to remember a while later about the overgrown part by the port. While contemplating the layout of this island I was stopped suddenly.

Right before me there was a set of footprints in the sand.

I started scouring my surroundings, but I didn't notice any signs of whoever left them. I lit up my fire orb and made it a bit bigger and brighter this time. Thanks to calm weather I couldn't be sure how old they were, for what I knew they could've been here for weeks, since the wind was seemingly non-existent over here.

Upon closer inspection I picked up a few more details. The footprints didn't end here, they instead disappeared into the sea. With my non-existent tracking skills I had no idea if someone came from the sea or the other way, or maybe he came here, had a swim, and went back retracking his footsteps. They were also pretty small. That also meant that someone else lived near here, which wasn't that surprising to be completely honest. I started following the tracks, and not a long while later the beach slowly started getting thinner and thinner, turning a bit towards the sea, and finally ended on a cliffside. The cliff itself was pretty massive and created a big natural barrier for whatever was on the other side. The tracks itself turned from the sea, directly parallel to the cliff, and disappeared into the forest about twenty meters before the cliff.

Turning my flame even brighter and lifting it higher above my head, I scoured my surroundings but, unsurprisingly, found nothing interesting. Thanks to the tracks leading into the forest I pretty much lost any hope of following them further, but after a second thought, reducing my flame to the size that didn't scream "fire hazard" I stepped into the forest, where the footprints led me.

I don't know what I expected to see. A road? Some kind of lead maybe? Either way, I found exactly nothing. Like usual. The darkness of the night definitely didn't help me very much, and even with my orb of flame I couldn't pinpoint the direction where the person who made the tracks went.

Thanks to the cliff, the only way forward was through the forest, so no matter which way they went I had to go deeper and avoid the clifface by circling around through the trees. Either that, or to simply go back. Unless I wanted to have a refreshing nightly swim, I only had those two options.

Without thinking much I started going deeper into the forest.

I wanted to check my limits anyway, and trekking through another patch of forest was as good of a way as was going back.

Physical activity was surprisingly refreshing for me. I didn't feel any fatigue or tiredness, for now at least. It started to worry me a little bit - the effects of infused water had to run out soon, right?

Soon I reached the part of the cliff that was inside the forest, and realized that it looked more like a plateau. Going parallel to it, I hoped that I might find some way to get up top and maybe take a better look at my surroundings. And I was right, not a long while later the ground ahead of me started forming a hill that slowly connected to the cliffside. The incline wasn't very steep, although the cliff itself was pretty tall. Upon reaching the top, I was able to see quite a bit of the island , the trees on the top were not as dense as below.

Looking down towards the sea and the beach I could barely see my tracks down in the sand, besides the ones I followed here. I didn't pay any attention to it before, but the moon itself was full, thanks to which the night was a bit brighter. The canopy of the trees was spanning the whole visible part of the island, even the coast, and it was pretty darn big. There was no beach anywhere in sight on the other side of the cliff. Even in the moonlight it was pretty hard to see in the dark, but thanks to the water being so still I could see that the further coast consisted of a similar shattered cliffside, like the one I was on top of, although a lot smaller. I couldn't tell if it was like that all the way thanks to the bends of the coast itself and the trees that were practically falling into the water, similarly like those near the “port” I visited earlier.

I decided to get down and around the whole cliff, to check out the parts further by the sea. After a brief trip down, I moved into the forest and started paying more attention to my surroundings. Since I was close to the sea and I knew that there was a cliff nearby, I didn't want to suddenly fall down because I didn't notice the edge. Luckily the ground wasn't unstable at all, even when I got dangerously close to it. Actually, it was even more stable than expected thanks to the massive roots of all the trees that were growing by the edge. Some of them were leaning past the cliff, looking down into the water. As I sent my orb down, I noticed that a few roots were even touching the water, covered in what seemed to be salt crystals, shimmering in the dark. The cliff wasn't even that tall, you could easily jump down into the water. I couldn't tell how deep it was, but when I looked down after my orb, I couldn't see the bottom of it, even when it was basically touching the still surface. From what I saw earlier, the waters around here were nice and clear, so it had to be at least a few meters deep, at least.

Following this amalgamation of roots and bushes that made up this side of the island's coast I traveled for quite a bit. I didn't encounter any part that would look like a regular beach, just that weird clifflike side. Thanks to the calmness of waters below, the ground itself was also not being eroded by waves, which with a combination of roots reinforcing it made for a pretty solid wall all the way. I started wondering if it was like that the entire way, encircling the island, to the port where I saw similar trees that hung over the water.

Soon enough the coast started curving to the right and rising a little bit. In the distance I could see that it formed another cliff, as high as the one that blocked me by the beach, or even higher. Even with my seemingly unending stamina I decided to not climb this one, since the hill that it made was a lot steeper and trying to get on it would mean I had to walk a pretty steep incline. I turned right, deeper into the forest, hoping to get around it and get somewhere a bit flatter.

After a while I noticed something strange. My arm, or rather my crystal, started to itch and irritate me. That was definitely a weird feeling, and it was quite alarming. The sensation was not letting up, and soon I was not able to ignore it any more.

Conveniently, the hill that blocked my way to the coast started to flatten suddenly, so I decided to climb the few steps up to the top, which was now just about a few meters higher with a much smoother incline and took a break, to inspect it. After sitting down, I unwrapped my arm and checked for a reason for this irregularity. The crystal itself was glowing a little bit. It was not the first time that happened, but that was a bit unusual.

As a matter of fact, every crystal does that when mana flows through it. Until this point I kept my arm hidden under the coat and a layer of cloth so it was not an issue, but if that would continue, it could definitely be a problem. I dismissed my orb again and soon the glow started to fade away, and the weird feeling also slowly started disappearing. I assumed that thanks to my expedition, constant mana usage and lack of rest of any kind, I finally started reaching my limits, and those feelings and unusually strong glow was just an early warning of some kind.

My theory was further supported by the fact that during my short rest all the irregularities disappeared. I didn't feel like my mana was exhausted though, which contradicted all of this, but without anything else to go off, I had to stick to my assumptions for now.

Looking around my resting spot I noticed that I traveled further than expected. In the distance I could see the port, or rather its shadowy silhouette, which meant I already circled most of the island. The sky was still completely dark and the dawn was nowhere to be seen, meaning that this island was indeed a small one. Checking my crystal once more, I wrapped myself back up and went back on my way.

The coast was still similar to the cliff but now it was much lower and the distance to water continuously was getting smaller until finally stabilizing at about three meters. It continued like this almost all the way to the port.

When I was about a hundred meters from the port, the ground shifted steeply down basically to the sea level. Soon I reached the wooden pier and the road.

There were still no signs of any boats. I hesitated for a moment. I should go back to town, yet I still felt like I could continue my "nightly walk". I almost managed to circle the entire island in one go, the most I have ever traveled on foot, not even to mention at once. After thinking about it for a few minutes, idly watching the calm water of the port, I decided to continue on, and finish my loop of the island.

I walked off the path and continued along the shore. This part of the coast was different. It was smooth and flat, no hills or cliffs. Trees still were present, and as strong as always. Some even partially submerged in the water, most of them had their roots in the sea.

They had to be pretty tough, considering that it was salt water that they were in. I already saw some roots being flooded and covered with salt water before, but to have a meter of the tree trunk underwater and be completely fine, those trees were something else. Either that, or this island was flooded recently. It didn't look like it because the port was still completely fine, and it was looking pretty old and ragged, not like something that was recently built.

The forest started to give way to the sand and slowly the coast turned to that of the beach. I still wasn't near the point where my walk started, yet it wasn't that far off. The beach was almost identical though, untouched and flat as a plank, sea still as calm as ever. Come to think of it, after spending so much time on the coast, I was yet to see a wave on the water. If I didn't know better, I'd say that this is a massive lake, and even then for water to be that calm was unusual, but besides tasting the water, I already saw some salt crystals on the roots, and the smell near the water was also unmistakable. I guess nature has its ways.

During my pondering about the sea and lakes I finally reached a spot familiar to me - the place where I first stepped on this beach. It wasn't hard to recognize, really, thanks to the fact that my footprints in the sand were still there. And were still the only ones present.

I took one last look at the sea and the sand, and went on my way back to the town.

With that I finally managed to do a full loop. I can't say it was very eventful or exciting, but anything is better than sitting behind the desk doing nothing. Funnily enough, back at the MIRE it was all I was doing, but then at least I could be productive working on spells, so I guess that was a bit different.

Wandering like that wasn't that bad, to be honest, I slowly started liking this feeling of freedom. The fact that I wasn't getting tired or sore from all this was most likely a factor in that though. I started wondering about this world I found myself in. All and all, I saw only a small piece of it, yet already I started liking this place for some reason. Here, as well as before in the crater, I felt weirdly at ease. If that was just the crater I would say that it's just nostalgia and homesickness kicking in, but there was no reason for that here. Nothing here was familiar, quite the opposite actually.

With those weird feelings, just as the sun was about to rise, I reached the town again, and made my way towards the inn.

I was greeted by quite an unexpected sight. The innkeeper was outside, with his back turned to me, looking towards the western part of the town while locking the door behind him. He didn't even notice me arriving.

-Hey, what about your guests? I paid for my room in advance! - I said, slightly annoyed. He was locking me out of my own room, after all.

As soon as I spoke, he jumped, startled, and turned around to face me, while grabbing something on his belt, under his clothes.

He looked nervous.

-Why so jumpy? I just came back from my stroll around the island and the first thing I see is my host looking at me like he saw a ghost.

-You are not dead?

-Eeem, obviously? - I replied, confused. - What, I didn't mean it literally. What's going on?

He didn't answer. And I finally noticed what he got from his belt - It was a green crystal, similar to that I saw Melle using, but smaller, attached to something that looked like a metal brooch.

I didn't feel like reliving the "hanging upside down from a vine" situation, so I put my hands up. Or rather one and a half I guess.

-Calm down, I have nothing to do with whatever is going on, so please no magic.

I don't think he believed me, since he didn't put down his crystal, but he did not cast anything so that was a plus.

-Come on, I'm just a defenseless bystander. Please put down your crystal.

That was obviously half a lie. Judging from the looks of it, the gem was the exact same kind as Melle used on me a while back and that meant the worst thing he could do to me was to sick some plants on me, meaning I could easily get out if I had to. Luckily I never showed him that I have a gem as well, so I had pretty good chances he would believe me.

-That is hard to believe - he finally said, still clutching the crystal. - What do you want?

-I kinda bought a room here, remember? I wanted to get a drink so I came back, but since you seem awfully busy I'm just gonna go upstairs if you don't mind.

He looked at me, scowling.

-Look, I see that you are in the middle of something. I am not asking questions, do whatever you want. I will just go upstairs and pretend that I don't exist. I don't want to get involved in anything.

I was awfully curious about what the hell is going on, but I forced myself to say otherwise.

I noticed he eyed my other half-arm. Right, until now I tried to keep that out of sight for everyone, and judging from his looks that was the first time he noticed I lacked an arm.

-So how about it? Will you let the poor crippled man go?

I think the remark about being crippled got to him, because he finally put down the gem back to his belt and opened the door.

-Inside. But any suspicious move and I will use this - he said pointing to his belt.

-Right, right.

He led me upstairs, carefully watching me the whole time. After confirming that I indeed disappeared into my room, he went back down. I heard the door locking behind him. Looking out of the window I saw him walk nervously towards the houses in the western part of the town. Curious, I grabbed a chair and sat by the window, to observe what he was up to.

I assumed all of those were empty before, since during night the only light source was this inn. It was definitely weird, but not as weird as he was now - he went to the first house and pulling out a massive keyring opened the door. He disappeared inside for a good few minutes, came out and closed the door, apparently accomplishing whatever he aimed for. Then he went for the house next door, repeating the process.

After a while it was clear that he has keys to every single building of this town for some reason. And after every single house checked, he seemed even more distressed, juggling through his keys faster and faster. Few times he even dropped them while trying to open the door. After the fourth house I stopped paying much attention to him, instead looking around the village for anything unusual that would explain his behavior, but with no luck. Everything seemed the same as I left it when I went on my little journey.

I considered going and looking around myself, but with his attitude earlier that was definitely not a good idea.

I looked out the window one more time - he was still in the same house as before. After confirming that he was indeed going for the next one, I stood up and decided to use this weird situation as an opportunity to check something out. As silent and as fast as I could I made my way downstairs and towards the room by the kitchen, the one flooded with papers. I wanted to take a closer look at some of those, since it was bothering me - why would an innkeeper have so much paperwork?

I had to be fast, since I didn't know when he would come back. Luckily, the kitchen door was open. But as I walked inside, to my surprise, there was no door to be seen. Where last night definitely was an entrance to another room, there was a solid wooden wall. That ignited my curiosity even more.

First thing that came to my mind was that this was some hidden path, but even touching the wall I couldn't make any cracks in the wood, not to mention in the shape of a door.

An illusion? It also was not possible, since I touched the wall - it definitely felt like a flat piece of wood, not a door.

Then it came to me.

The guy was using a green gem just now, meaning he could control plants. It wouldn't be far fetched to assume that he could also alter the shape of the wooden wall. Looking closely, my guess was pretty much confirmed - the wood where the door used to be was a bit smoother than the rest of the wall, like it was somehow stretched.

Meaning I was not getting inside without using some drastic methods.

That brought a question - what was he trying to hide there? He basically permanently sealed the door. You would literally have to make a new hole to get in. What was so important that he had to do this? Those papers? Couldn't be, last time when I saw him inside he didn't bother hiding anything, he didn't even try to kick me out of there. What happened today to put him on such an edge?

Pondering this new discovery I heard a loud crack somewhere out on the street, something that sounded like a tree breaking in half.

I ran to the door, but it was not budging.

-Dick locked me in… - I muttered under my breath. While running upstairs to take a look outside through the window, I started hearing a lot more cracking, this time louder, and accompanied with different noises - like something breaking and… yelling?

What I saw was definitely not what I expected.

One of the last houses to the east of the town was split in half, and from inside there was now growing a tree the size of the house itself, probably even larger. In the ruins I could see three people, two on the ground and one standing by the tree.

One of the people on the ground was definitely the innkeeper, they weren't that for me not to recognize him. More importantly, the other two people were wearing the same armor I saw guards wearing.

The next thing I noticed made me freeze for a second.

The other person lying on the ground was impaled with a wooden spike. Not moving, in a pool of what most definitely was blood.

After the initial shock, I realized a few things.

One, the innkeeper was entangled with vines coming out from the tree in the middle.

Two, the only person standing was also pierced with a wooden spike, but through his hand.

The guy moved to the tied innkeeper on the ground, picked something up from near him, pocketed it, and after a brief consideration kicked him a few times in the stomach. He checked up on his companion in the pool of blood. He apparently realized the same thing as me, because he again walked up to the innkeeper and this time kicked him right in the face, after which he started dragging him through the wreckage towards the inn, using the vines he was bound with.

That was absolutely not something I wanted to be a part of. Sadly, my wish was bound to not come true, because seconds later I heard someone loudly trying to open the door, after which a few bangs and yelling. By the time I managed to get a closer look through the window, they were already gone, and judging from the noises downstairs, already inside.